[[This is a starter for a roleplay that is sort of like Mulan. The only thing that is similar is that my female character is mistaken for a boy and enlists to fight in a war. I really enjoyed this roleplay but it died quickly.]]

When day broke, there was an unearhtly silence that blanketed the land. Briar was already up, doing the morning chores. Her father, a hard-working man, had taught his daughter everything his father had taught him and part of that was start the day early and work hard. Briar was dressed in her usual slacks and her over-sized shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her long hair was pulled back in a simple tie to keep it from her face. Briar was a pretty enough girl but she was tall and sturdy. Her clothes often hid the feminine curves of her body and because of that, there were never many boys at her door trying to court her.

As she watched the sun rise, the sudden hush made her scan the landscape. She could not see anything amiss but all at once, there was a commotion towards the center of the villiage. She could not see it because of the distance but it was loud enough to hear and that worried her. Her mother had gone down to the villiage. She would have just arrived. Her father came running out of their barn and stood with his daughter, thinking the same thing.

Without a word said, the two ran back to the barn and saddled up the work horses. In unison, father and daughter took off towards the villiage at full gallop.

The pounding of the horses hooves matched the pounding of Briar's heart. She had her whispers and rumors of war brewing between their kingdom and a neighboring kingdom but she had paid no mind. They were a small villiage and surely they would not be involved. But as she neared the villiage center, her stomach dropped. Men in armor weilding swords and axes filled the little streets with blood and cries of anguish. The villiagers caught in the fray were cut down easily, falling like broken dolls. Briar never knew such panic.

But there was no time for that. Her father shouted at her to turn back but she shook her head mulishly. He didn't fight it. He jumped off the horse and ran to the market, searching desperately for his wife while dodging stray swings of weapons. Briar was right on his heels, calling out for her mother. The feeling of being a lost child over took her and her heart siezed with fear but she worked through it. Until she saw her father fall. It happened at if time slowed. A sword had sliced his back and another had skewered him through the stomach. When the sword was pulled out and the soldier turned to face a different attacker, Briar's father fell to his knees, clutching his stomach, eyes wide and still searching for his wife.

Briar froze for a moment then pushed through, tossing villiager and soldier aside in her rage and anguish. She collapsed to her knees where her father had fallen and gathered him to her. Tears streamed down her face. The battle raged on around her and Briar wasn't even sure when it stopped. She did not know where her mother was and her father was dead in her arms. When she realized the fighting had stopped, she was no longer able to cry. She felt dry and hollow.

She stood, looking around as others she knew grieved for the ones they lost. Some were desperately trying to put out fires that had been started. The soldiers were tending to their wounded but looked unconcerned with the damage they had done to this small farming villiage. Anger and hate filled Briar as she looked upon them. How could they do this to innocent people? What were they supposed to do now? So much had been lost and so much had to be rebuilt. They were not a wealthy town or city. They lived off of what they made and what they had made had been destroyed in one day. The fighting had even heightened to the point that it spread and she saw a fire where her home was supposed to be. Briar didn't even know when soldiers had gotten there.

Still, Briar had to search for her mother but the hope that she was still alive was very small.